Regal Moves into Ukranian Hands
Energees Investments has secured control of Ukraine explorer and producer Regal Petroleum, taking control of 51.7 per cent of Regal’s equity.
Energees is the oil and gas subsidiary of the Smart Group, one of Ukraine’s largest business conglomerates with interests in real estate, media, retail, metals and mining in Ukraine. The company affirmed Regal will keep its London listing, a reversal of previous plans to take it private.
Energees previously said its offer was conditional on taking a 70 per cent stake, but lowered its threshold last Friday to 50 per cent.
The revised bid at 38p a share, up from an initial foray at 24p a share, values Regal at £121.8m and represents a 147 per cent premium to Regal’s average closing price of 15.4p prior to the initial offer made in November 2010.
The takeover ends a long-running battle for control of Regal, whose share price plunged after the company had to suspend production following a dispute with the Ukraine government’s environment agency.
In June 2010, Regal produced an average of 2,377 barrels of oil equivalent a day, according to the latest company results
Energees secured its winning bid after talks last month between Regal and two Cyprus-registered entities controlled by Victor Pinchuk did not lead to a formal offer from the Ukrainian metals magnate.